Emi shielding with conductive epoxy

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a localized shield to protect integrated circuit (IC) components within a package module from electromagnetic interference (EMI). Conventional EMI shielding solutions, such as a compartment shield, protect an entire package but do not provide localized protection or grounding of IC components. To construct the EMI shield disclosed herein, a layer of conductive epoxy is deposited on an upper conductive surface of the IC component, then the component is encapsulated in mold compound. Excess mold compound is ground down to expose the epoxy layer, and a conformal shield layer is applied over the mold compound such that the conductive epoxy layer forms a ground path between the conformal shield and the conductive surface of the IC component.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/341,969 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/341,971, both filedMay 13, 2022. The foregoing applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties. Any and all applications for which aforeign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application DataSheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated byreference under 37 CFR 1.57.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present disclosure generally relates to shielding electronicmodules, and relates in particular to shielded radiofrequency (RF)modules.

Description of the Related Art

In wireless communication applications, size, cost, and performance areexamples of factors that can be important for a given product. Forexample, to increase performance, wireless components such as adiversity receive antenna and associated circuitry are becoming morepopular.

In many radiofrequency (RF) applications, RF circuits and relateddevices can be implemented in a packaged module. The RF circuits andother devices can emit electromagnetic interference, which can affectthe operation of the module.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to certain aspects, a localized shield is provided to protectintegrated circuit (IC) components within a package module fromelectromagnetic interference (EMI). Conventional EMI shieldingsolutions, such as a compartment shield, protect an entire package butmay not provide sufficient localized protection or grounding of ICcomponents. To construct the EMI shield according to certain aspects, alayer of conductive epoxy is deposited on an upper conductive surface ofthe IC component, then the component is encapsulated in mold compound.Excess mold compound is ground down to expose the epoxy layer, and aconformal shield layer is applied over the mold compound such that theconductive epoxy layer forms a ground path between the conformal shieldand conductive surface of the IC component.

In one aspect, a shielded integrated circuit package, includes a printedcircuit board, a semiconductor die mounted to the printed circuit boardand having a conductive top surface, a conductive adhesive layerprovided on the conductive top surface, an over-mold above the printedcircuit board, the over-mold encasing a periphery of the semiconductordie while exposing at least a portion of a top surface of the conductiveadhesive layer, and a conformal metal shield over the over-mold and overthe conductive adhesive layer, the conductive adhesive layer and theconformal metal shield forming a path from the semiconductor die to aground reference.

In some cases, the semiconductor die can include a surface-mount device.The semiconductor die can further include one or more of a surfaceacoustic wave filter, bulk acoustic wave filter, power amplifier, orlow-noise amplifier. The adhesive layer can include a conductive epoxy.The conformal metal shield can be of aluminum, copper, nickel, iron,tin, or zinc, and can be configured to attenuate radio frequency signalscausing electromagnetic interference in the n77, n78, or n79 New Radiofrequency bands. The shielded integrated circuit package may beconfigured as a ball grid array package. The package may further includea plurality of bond wires forming a wire cage around the package.

In another aspect, a radio frequency packaged module includes a printedcircuit board, a first and a second semiconductor die mounted to theprinted circuit board and each having a conductive top surface, a firstconductive adhesive layer provided on a conductive top surface of thefirst semiconductor die and a second conductive adhesive layer providedon a conductive top surface of the second semiconductor die, anover-mold above the printed circuit board, the over-mold encasing aperiphery of each of the semiconductor dies while exposing at least aportion of a top surface of both the first and second conductiveadhesive layer, and a conformal metal shield over the over-mold and overthe first and second conductive adhesive layers, the first conductiveadhesive layer and the conformal metal shield forming a path from thefirst semiconductor die to a ground reference and the second conductiveadhesive layer and the conformal metal shield forming a path from thesecond semiconductor die to the ground reference.

In some cases, each of the semiconductor dies include one or more of asurface acoustic wave filter, bulk acoustic wave filter, poweramplifier, or a low-noise amplifier. The module can be a front-endmodule. The conformal metal shield can be configured to substantiallyattenuate radio frequency signals causing electromagnetic interferencein the n77, n78, or n79 New Radio frequency bands. The radio frequencypackaged module may be configured as a ball grid array package. Thepackaged module may further include a plurality of bond wires forming awire cage around the module.

In yet another aspect, a mobile device can include a radio frequencypackaged module according to the present disclosure. The mobile devicefurther includes an antenna coupled to the radio frequency packagedmodule. In some cases, a plurality of bond wires extend between theprinted circuit board and the conformal metal shield to form a wire cagearound the radio frequency packaged module. The wire cage is configuredto attenuate radio frequency noise emissions of the semiconductor die bycoupling the noise emissions to the ground reference. The plurality ofbond wires can be configured to form a perimeter boundary around thesemiconductor die. The conductive adhesive layer can form an electricalconnection between one or more of the bond wires and the groundreference. The conformal metal shield can be configured to attenuateradio frequency signals causing electromagnetic interference in the n77,n78, or n79 New Radio frequency bands.

In another aspect, a mobile device can include a shielded integratedcircuit package including a printed circuit board, a semiconductor diemounted to the printed circuit board and having a conductive topsurface, a conductive adhesive layer provided on the conductive topsurface, an over-mold above the printed circuit board, the over-moldencasing a periphery of the semiconductor die while exposing at least aportion of a top surface of the conductive adhesive layer, and aconformal metal shield over the over-mold and over the conductiveadhesive layer, the conductive adhesive layer and the conformal metalshield forming a path from the semiconductor die to a ground reference.The mobile device can further include an antenna coupled to the shieldedintegrated circuit package.

In one aspect, a method of constructing a shielded integrated circuitpackage includes mounting a semiconductor die to a printed circuitboard, applying a conductive adhesive layer over a conductive topsurface of the semiconductor die, applying an over-mold above theprinted circuit board, encasing a periphery of the semiconductor diewithin the over-mold, removing an excess portion of the over-mold toexpose at least a portion of the conductive adhesive layer, and applyinga conformal metal shield over the over-mold, the conductive adhesivelayer and the conformal metal shield forming a path from thesemiconductor die to a ground reference.

In some cases, the semiconductor die includes one or more of a surfaceacoustic wave filter, bulk acoustic wave filter, power amplifier, orlow-noise amplifier. The conformal metal shield can be of aluminum,copper, nickel, iron, tin, or zinc. The conformal metal shield can beconfigured to attenuate radio frequency signals in the n77, n78, or n79New Radio frequency bands, and can attenuate radio frequency signals inone or more of the New Radio frequency bands by at least 5 dB.

Mounting the semiconductor die to the printed circuit board can furtherinclude forming an electrical and mechanical connection between a firstplurality of contact pads and a corresponding second plurality ofcontact pads. A subset of the first plurality of contact pads and acorresponding subset of the second plurality of contact pads may beprovided to form a mechanical connection between the semiconductor dieand the printed circuit board. The semiconductor die can be mounted tothe printed circuit board using surface-mount technology. The conformalmetal shield may be applied by sputtering or spraying a metallic paint,or by shaping a portion of solid metal over the top surface of thepackage.

Applying the conformal metal shield can further includes forming aplurality of bond wires about a perimeter of the package. The conductiveadhesive layer can be applied by dispensing or screen printing. Removingthe excess portion of the over-mold can be performed by cutting orgrinding, by laser ablation, or by a chemical treatment.

In another aspect, a method of constructing a radio frequency packagedmodule includes mounting a first and a second semiconductor die to aprinted circuit board, each of the semiconductor dies having aconductive top surface, applying a first conductive adhesive layer overa corresponding conductive top surface of the first semiconductor die,applying a second conductive adhesive layer over a correspondingconductive top surface of the second semiconductor die, applying anover-mold above the printed circuit board, encasing a periphery of eachof the first and second semiconductor dies while exposing at least aportion of each of the first and second conductive adhesive layers, andapplying a conformal metal shield over the over-mold and over theconductive adhesive layers such that the first conductive adhesive layerand the conformal metal shield form a path from the first semiconductordie to a ground reference, and the second conductive adhesive layer andthe conformal metal shield form a path from the second semiconductor dieto the ground reference.

In some cases, at least one of the semiconductor dies can include asurface acoustic wave filter, bulk acoustic wave filter, poweramplifier, or a low-noise amplifier. The radio frequency packaged modulecan be a front-end module. The conformal metal shield can be configuredto attenuate radio frequency signals causing electromagneticinterference in the n77, n78, or n79 New Radio frequency bands by atleast 5 dB.

Any of the features, components, or details of any of the arrangementsor embodiments disclosed in this application, including withoutlimitation any of the apparatus embodiments and any of the radiofrequency embodiments disclosed herein, are interchangeably combinablewith any other features, components, or details of any of thearrangements or embodiments disclosed herein to form new arrangementsand embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one example of a communication network;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a mobile device;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a power amplifier system according toone embodiment;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a power amplifier system according toanother embodiment;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of one embodiment of apackaged module illustrating EMI shielding for signal attenuation;

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of another embodimentof a packaged module;

FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of yet anotherembodiment of a packaged module;

FIGS. 5A-5F illustrate the steps of a method for fabricating a packagedmodule according to any of the FIGS. 4A-4C;

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of a top plan-view of an embodiment of apackaged module with a flip-chip die;

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of the packaged moduleof FIG. 6A taken along the lines 6B-6B;

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of an embodiment of apackaged module with cavity-based antennas; and

FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the packaged module of FIG. 7A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following detailed description of certain embodiments presentsvarious descriptions of specific embodiments. However, the innovationsdescribed herein can be embodied in a multitude of different ways, forexample, as defined and covered by the claims. In this description,reference is made to the drawings where like reference numerals canindicate identical or functionally similar elements. It will beunderstood that elements illustrated in the figures are not necessarilydrawn to scale. Moreover, it will be understood that certain embodimentscan include more elements than illustrated in a drawing and/or a subsetof the elements illustrated in a drawing. Further, some embodiments canincorporate any suitable combination of features from two or moredrawings.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a specialized agencyof the United Nations (UN) responsible for global issues concerninginformation and communication technologies, including the shared globaluse of radio spectrum.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration betweengroups of telecommunications standard bodies across the world, such asthe Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB), theTelecommunications Technology Committee (TTC), the China CommunicationsStandards Association (CCSA), the Alliance for TelecommunicationsIndustry Solutions (ATIS), the Telecommunications Technology Association(TTA), the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), andthe Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI).

Working within the scope of the ITU, 3GPP develops and maintainstechnical specifications for a variety of mobile communicationtechnologies, including, for example, second generation (2G) technology(for instance, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) andEnhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)), third generation (3G)technology (for instance, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS) and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA)), and fourth generation (4G)technology (for instance, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced).

The technical specifications controlled by 3GPP can be expanded andrevised by specification releases, which can span multiple years andspecify a breadth of new features and evolutions.

In one example, 3GPP introduced carrier aggregation (CA) for LTE inRelease 10. Although initially introduced with two downlink carriers,3GPP expanded carrier aggregation in Release 14 to include up to fivedownlink carriers and up to three uplink carriers. Other examples of newfeatures and evolutions provided by 3GPP releases include, but are notlimited to, License Assisted Access (LAA), enhanced LAA (eLAA),Narrowband Internet of things (NB-IOT), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), andHigh Power User Equipment (HPUE).

3GPP introduced Phase 1 of fifth generation (5G) technology in Release15, and introduced Phase 2 of 5G technology in Release 16. Subsequent3GPP releases will further evolve and expand 5G technology. 5Gtechnology is also referred to herein as 5G New Radio (NR).

5G NR supports or plans to support a variety of features, such ascommunications over millimeter wave spectrum, beamforming capability,high spectral efficiency waveforms, low latency communications, multipleradio numerology, and/or non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). Althoughsuch RF functionalities offer flexibility to networks and enhance userdata rates, supporting such features can pose a number of technicalchallenges.

The teachings herein are applicable to a wide variety of communicationsystems, including, but not limited to, communication systems usingadvanced cellular technologies, such as LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro,and/or 5G NR.

Mobile Communications System

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one example of a communication network10. The communication network 10 includes a macro cell base station 1, asmall cell base station 3, and various examples of user equipment (UE),including a first mobile device 2 a, a wireless-connected car 2 b, alaptop 2 c, a stationary wireless device 2 d, a wireless-connected train2 e, a second mobile device 2 f, and a third mobile device 2 g.

Although specific examples of base stations and user equipment areillustrated in FIG. 1 , a communication network can include basestations and user equipment of a wide variety of types and/or numbers.

For instance, in the example shown, the communication network 10includes the macro cell base station 1 and the small cell base station3. The small cell base station 3 can operate with relatively lowerpower, shorter range, and/or with fewer concurrent users relative to themacro cell base station 1. The small cell base station 3 can also bereferred to as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell. Although thecommunication network 10 is illustrated as including two base stations,the communication network 10 can be implemented to include more or fewerbase stations and/or base stations of other types.

Although various examples of user equipment are shown, the teachingsherein are applicable to a wide variety of user equipment, including,but not limited to, mobile phones, tablets, laptops, IoT devices,wearable electronics, customer premises equipment (CPE),wireless-connected vehicles, wireless relays, and/or a wide variety ofother communication devices. Furthermore, user equipment includes notonly currently available communication devices that operate in acellular network, but also subsequently developed communication devicesthat will be readily implementable with the inventive systems,processes, methods, and devices as described and claimed herein.

The illustrated communication network 10 of FIG. 1 supportscommunications using a variety of cellular technologies, including, forexample, 4G LTE and 5G NR. In certain implementations, the communicationnetwork 10 is further adapted to provide a wireless local area network(WLAN), such as WiFi. Although various examples of communicationtechnologies have been provided, the communication network 10 can beadapted to support a wide variety of communication technologies.

Various communication links of the communication network 10 have beendepicted in FIG. 1 . The communication links can be duplexed in a widevariety of ways, including, for example, using frequency-divisionduplexing (FDD) and/or time-division duplexing (TDD). FDD is a type ofradio frequency communications that uses different frequencies fortransmitting and receiving signals. FDD can provide a number ofadvantages, such as high data rates and low latency. In contrast, TDD isa type of radio frequency communications that uses about the samefrequency for transmitting and receiving signals, and in which transmitand receive communications are switched in time. TDD can provide anumber of advantages, such as efficient use of spectrum and variableallocation of throughput between transmit and receive directions.

In certain implementations, user equipment can communicate with a basestation using one or more of 4G LTE, 5G NR, and WiFi technologies. Incertain implementations, enhanced license assisted access (eLAA) is usedto aggregate one or more licensed frequency carriers (for instance,licensed 4G LTE and/or 5G NR frequencies), with one or more unlicensedcarriers (for instance, unlicensed WiFi frequencies).

As shown in FIG. 1 , the communication links include not onlycommunication links between UE and base stations, but also UE to UEcommunications and base station to base station communications. Forexample, the communication network 10 can be implemented to supportself-fronthaul and/or self-backhaul (for instance, as between mobiledevice 2 g and mobile device 2 f).

The communication links can operate over a wide variety of frequencies.In certain implementations, communications are supported using 5G NRtechnology over one or more frequency bands that are less than 6Gigahertz (GHz) and/or over one or more frequency bands that are greaterthan 6 GHz. For example, the communication links can serve FrequencyRange 1 (FR1) in the range of about 410 MHz to about 7.125 GHz,Frequency Range 2 (FR2) in the range of about 24.250 GHz to about 52.600GHz, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of themobile devices support a HPUE power class specification.

In certain implementations, a base station and/or user equipmentcommunicates using beamforming. For example, beamforming can be used tofocus signal strength to overcome path losses, such as high lossassociated with communicating over high signal frequencies. In certainembodiments, user equipment, such as one or more mobile phones,communicate using beamforming on millimeter wave frequency bands in therange of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and/or upper centimeter wave frequencies inthe range of 6 GHz to 30 GHz, or more particularly, 24 GHz to 30 GHz.

Different users of the communication network 10 can share availablenetwork resources, such as available frequency spectrum, in a widevariety of ways.

In one example, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) is used todivide a frequency band into multiple frequency carriers. Additionally,one or more carriers are allocated to a particular user. Examples ofFDMA include, but are not limited to, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) andorthogonal FDMA (OFDMA). OFDMA is a multicarrier technology thatsubdivides the available bandwidth into multiple mutually orthogonalnarrowband subcarriers, which can be separately assigned to differentusers.

Other examples of shared access include, but are not limited to, timedivision multiple access (TDMA) in which a user is allocated particulartime slots for using a frequency resource, code division multiple access(CDMA) in which a frequency resource is shared amongst different usersby assigning each user a unique code, space-divisional multiple access(SDMA) in which beamforming is used to provide shared access by spatialdivision, and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in which the powerdomain is used for multiple access. For example, NOMA can be used toserve multiple users at the same frequency, time, and/or code, but withdifferent power levels.

Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) refers to technology for growing systemcapacity of LTE networks. For example, eMBB can refer to communicationswith a peak data rate of at least 10 Gbps and a minimum of 100 Mbps foreach user. Ultra-reliable low latency communications (uRLLC) refers totechnology for communication with very low latency, for instance, lessthan 2 milliseconds. uRLLC can be used for mission-criticalcommunications such as for autonomous driving and/or remote surgeryapplications. Massive machine-type communications (mMTC) refers to lowcost and low data rate communications associated with wirelessconnections to everyday objects, such as those associated with Internetof Things (IoT) applications.

The communication network 10 of FIG. 1 can be used to support a widevariety of advanced communication features, including, but not limitedto, eMBB, uRLLC, and/or mMTC.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a mobile device 800.The mobile device 800 includes a baseband system 801, a transceiver 802,a front end system 803, antennas 804, a power management system 805, amemory 806, a user interface 807, and a battery 808.

The mobile device 800 can be used communicate using a wide variety ofcommunications technologies, including, but not limited to, 2G, 3G, 4G(including LTE, LTE-Advanced, and LTE-Advanced Pro), 5G NR, WLAN (forinstance, WiFi), WPAN (for instance, Bluetooth and ZigBee), WMAN (forinstance, WiMax), and/or GPS technologies.

The transceiver 802 generates RF signals for transmission and processesincoming RF signals received from the antennas 804. It will beunderstood that various functionalities associated with the transmissionand receiving of RF signals can be achieved by one or more componentsthat are collectively represented in FIG. 2 as the transceiver 802. Inone example, separate components (for instance, separate circuits ordies) can be provided for handling certain types of RF signals.

The front end system 803 aids in conditioning signals transmitted toand/or received from the antennas 804. In the illustrated embodiment,the front end system 803 includes antenna tuning circuitry 810, poweramplifiers (PAs) 811, low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 812, filters 813,switches 814, and signal splitting/combining circuitry 815. However,other implementations are possible.

For example, the front end system 803 can provide a number offunctionalities, including, but not limited to, amplifying signals fortransmission, amplifying received signals, filtering signals, switchingbetween different bands, switching between different power modes,switching between transmission and receiving modes, duplexing ofsignals, multiplexing of signals (for instance, diplexing ortriplexing), or some combination thereof.

In certain implementations, the mobile device 800 supports carrieraggregation, thereby providing flexibility to increase peak data rates.Carrier aggregation can be used for both Frequency Division Duplexing(FDD) and Time Division Duplexing (TDD), and may be used to aggregate aplurality of carriers or channels. Carrier aggregation includescontiguous aggregation, in which contiguous carriers within the sameoperating frequency band are aggregated. Carrier aggregation can also benon-contiguous, and can include carriers separated in frequency within acommon band or in different bands.

The antennas 804 can include antennas used for a wide variety of typesof communications. For example, the antennas 804 can include antennasfor transmitting and/or receiving signals associated with a wide varietyof frequencies and communications standards.

In certain implementations, the antennas 804 support MIMO communicationsand/or switched diversity communications. For example, MIMOcommunications use multiple antennas for communicating multiple datastreams over a single radio frequency channel. MIMO communicationsbenefit from higher signal to noise ratio, improved coding, and/orreduced signal interference due to spatial multiplexing differences ofthe radio environment. Switched diversity refers to communications inwhich a particular antenna is selected for operation at a particulartime. For example, a switch can be used to select a particular antennafrom a group of antennas based on a variety of factors, such as anobserved bit error rate and/or a signal strength indicator.

The mobile device 800 can operate with beamforming in certainimplementations. For example, the front end system 803 can includeamplifiers having controllable gain and phase shifters havingcontrollable phase to provide beam formation and directivity fortransmission and/or reception of signals using the antennas 804. Forexample, in the context of signal transmission, the amplitude and phasesof the transmit signals provided to the antennas 804 are controlled suchthat radiated signals from the antennas 804 combine using constructiveand destructive interference to generate an aggregate transmit signalexhibiting beam-like qualities with more signal strength propagating ina given direction. In the context of signal reception, the amplitude andphases are controlled such that more signal energy is received when thesignal is arriving to the antennas 804 from a particular direction. Incertain implementations, the antennas 804 include one or more arrays ofantenna elements to enhance beamforming.

The baseband system 801 is coupled to the user interface 807 tofacilitate processing of various user input and output (I/O), such asvoice and data. The baseband system 801 provides the transceiver 802with digital representations of transmit signals, which the transceiver802 processes to generate RF signals for transmission. The basebandsystem 801 also processes digital representations of received signalsprovided by the transceiver 802. As shown in FIG. 2 , the basebandsystem 801 is coupled to the memory 806 of facilitate operation of themobile device 800.

The memory 806 can be used for a wide variety of purposes, such asstoring data and/or instructions to facilitate the operation of themobile device 800 and/or to provide storage of user information.

The power management system 805 provides a number of power managementfunctions of the mobile device 800. In certain implementations, thepower management system 805 includes a PA supply control circuit thatcontrols the supply voltages of the power amplifiers 811. For example,the power management system 805 can be configured to change the supplyvoltage(s) provided to one or more of the power amplifiers 811 toimprove efficiency, such as power added efficiency (PAE).

As shown in FIG. 2 , the power management system 805 receives a batteryvoltage from the battery 808. The battery 808 can be any suitablebattery for use in the mobile device 800, including, for example, alithium-ion battery.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a power amplifier system 860 accordingto one embodiment. The illustrated power amplifier system 860 includes abaseband processor 841, a transmitter/observation receiver 842, a poweramplifier (PA) 843, a directional coupler 844, front-end circuitry 845,an antenna 846, a PA bias control circuit 847, and a PA supply controlcircuit 848. The illustrated transmitter/observation receiver 842includes an FQ modulator 857, a mixer 858, and an analog to digitalconverter (ADC) 859. In certain implementations, thetransmitter/observation receiver 842 is incorporated into a transceiver.

The baseband processor 841 can be used to generate an in-phase (I)signal and a quadrature-phase (Q) signal, which can be used to representa sinusoidal wave or signal of a desired amplitude, frequency, andphase. For example, the I signal can be used to represent an in¬ phasecomponent of the sinusoidal wave and the Q signal can be used torepresent a quadrature-phase component of the sinusoidal wave, which canbe an equivalent representation of the sinusoidal wave. In certainimplementations, the I and Q signals can be provided to the I/Qmodulator 857 in a digital format. The baseband processor 841 can be anysuitable processor configured to process a baseband signal. Forinstance, the baseband processor 841 can include a digital signalprocessor, a microprocessor, a programmable core, or any combinationthereof. Moreover, in some implementations, two or more basebandprocessors 841 can be included in the power amplifier system 860.

The FQ modulator 857 can be configured to receive the I and Q signalsfrom the baseband processor 841 and to process the I and Q signals togenerate an RF signal. For example, the I/Q modulator 857 can includedigital-to-analog converters (DACs) configured to convert the I and Qsignals into an analog format, mixers for upconverting the I and Qsignals to RF, and a signal combiner for combining the upconverted I andQ signals into an RF signal suitable for amplification by the poweramplifier 843. In certain implementations, the I/Q modulator 857 caninclude one or more filters configured to filter frequency content ofsignals processed therein.

The power amplifier 843 can receive the RF signal from the I/Q modulator857, and when enabled can provide an amplified RF signal to the antenna846 via the front-end circuitry 845.

The front-end circuitry 845 can be implemented in a wide variety ofways. In one example, the front-end circuitry 845 includes one or moreswitches, filters, duplexers, multiplexers, and/or other components. Inanother example, the front-end circuitry 845 is omitted in favor of thepower amplifier 843 providing the amplified RF signal directly to theantenna 846.

The directional coupler 844 senses an output signal of the poweramplifier 823. Additionally, the sensed output signal from thedirectional coupler 844 is provided to the mixer 858, which multipliesthe sensed output signal by a reference signal of a controlledfrequency. The mixer 858 operates to generate a downshifted signal bydownshifting the sensed output signal's frequency content. Thedownshifted signal can be provided to the ADC 859, which can convert thedownshifted signal to a digital format suitable for processing by thebaseband processor 841. Including a feedback path from the output of thepower amplifier 843 to the baseband processor 841 can provide a numberof advantages. For example, implementing the baseband processor 841 inthis manner can aid in providing power control, compensating fortransmitter impairments, and/or in performing digital pre-distortion(DPD). Although one example of a sensing path for a power amplifier isshown, other implementations are possible.

The PA supply control circuit 848 receives a power control signal fromthe baseband processor 841, and controls supply voltages of the poweramplifier 843. In the illustrated configuration, the PA supply controlcircuit 848 generates a first supply voltage VCC1 for powering an inputstage of the power amplifier 843 and a second supply voltage VCC2 forpowering an output stage of the power amplifier 843. The PA supplycontrol circuit 848 can control the voltage level of the first supplyvoltage VCC1 and/or the second supply voltage VCC2 to enhance the poweramplifier system's PAE.

The PA supply control circuit 848 can employ various power managementtechniques to change the voltage level of one or more of the supplyvoltages over time to improve the power amplifier's power addedefficiency (PAE), thereby reducing power dissipation.

One technique for improving efficiency of a power amplifier is averagepower tracking (APT), in which a DC-to-DC converter is used to generatea supply voltage for a power amplifier based on the power amplifier'saverage output power. Another technique for improving efficiency of apower amplifier is envelope tracking (ET), in which a supply voltage ofthe power amplifier is controlled in relation to the envelope of the RFsignal. Thus, when a voltage level of the envelope of the RF signalincreases the voltage level of the power amplifier's supply voltage canbe increased. Likewise, when the voltage level of the envelope of the RFsignal decreases the voltage level of the power amplifier's supplyvoltage can be decreased to reduce power consumption.

In certain configurations, the PA supply control circuit 848 is amulti-mode supply control circuit that can operate in multiple supplycontrol modes including an APT mode and an ET mode. For example, thepower control signal from the baseband processor 841 can instruct the PAsupply control circuit 848 to operate in a particular supply controlmode.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the PA bias control circuit 847 receives a biascontrol signal from the baseband processor 841, and generates biascontrol signals for the power amplifier 843. In the illustratedconfiguration, the bias control circuit 847 generates bias controlsignals for both an input stage of the power amplifier 843 and an outputstage of the power amplifier 843. However, other implementations arepossible.

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a power amplifier system 870 accordingto another embodiment. The illustrated power amplifier system 870includes a baseband processor 841, a transmitter/observation receiver842, a power amplifier 843, an antenna array 861, a PA bias controlcircuit 847, and a PA supply control circuit 848. As shown in FIG. 3B,the antenna array 861 includes an antenna 861 and an observation antenna863.

The power amplifier system 870 of FIG. 3B is similar to the poweramplifier system 860 of FIG. 3A, except that the power amplifier system870 omits the directional coupler 844 and the front-end circuitry 845 ofFIG. 3A to avoid loading loss at the output of the power amplifier 843.For example, the power amplifier system 870 can aid in providing lowsignal loss when transmitting at millimeter wave frequencies. As shownin FIG. 3B, the observation antenna 863 is coupled to the antenna 861 byantenna-to-antenna coupling, and serves to provide an observation signalfor the observation path of the transmitter/observation receiver 842.

Packaged Module with Local EMI Shielding

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a cross section of a packaged module600 with component-level shielding from electromagnetic interference(EMI). The packaged module 600 may be constructed according to any ofthe embodiments described herein and can implement any of the mobiledevice components of any of the previous Figures.

The packaged module 600 includes a printed circuit board (PCB) layer 610forming a base or substrate of the module 600. The PCB layer 610 canhave a substantially rectangular footprint upon which various additionallayers of the module 600 are stacked. In the preferred embodiment, theadditional layers of the module 600 are constrained within an outerperimeter of the PCB layer which defines the substantially rectangularfootprint. As shown in FIG. 4A, the packaged module 600 has aquadrilateral profile formed by the base PCB layer 610 and the variousadditional layers stacked upon and above the PCB layer 610. In thepreferred embodiment, the top plan-view and cross-sectional profiles ofthe packaged module 600 is substantially rectangular, although otherform-factors are possible.

At least one semiconductor die 620 is electrically connected to the PCBlayer 610, e.g., via soldered wirebonds extending from contact pinsarranged around the periphery of the die 620 to corresponding contactspads on the top of the PCB layer 610. In certain alternativeembodiments, the semiconductor die 620 is a flip-chip die (e.g., theflip-chip die 952 of FIG. 6B). In such cases, the die 620 is connectedto the PCB layer 610 via soldered die pads instead of peripheralwirebonds. However, the semiconductor die 620 can be connected to thePCB by any technique known to one skilled in the art, such asthermosonic bonding or reflow soldering. The die 620 is preferably asurface-mount device (SMD), and can include a surface acoustic wave(SAW) filter, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter, power amplifier (PA), ora low-noise amplifier (LNA).

The semiconductor die 620 can be arranged within the module on the basePCB layer 610 as shown in FIG. 6A, and the packaged module 600 caninclude any of a wide variety of type and number of RF components, as isshown and described, for example, with respect to FIGS. 6A through 7B.

With continuing reference to FIG. 4A, a first conformal metal shieldlayer 625 is applied over the semiconductor die 620 to provide the diewith a conductive exterior surface electrically grounded to a commonground of the module 600. The die 620 has a substantially planar topsurface over which the conformal shield layer 625 is formed. The firstshield layer 625 can wrap around additional surfaces of the die 620 toprovide a ground path to the PCB layer 610. In certain embodiments, thefirst conformal metal shield layer 625 is formed by masking andsputtering metallic paint over the die 620. However, the first shieldlayer 625 can also be sprayed, printed, or applied to the top surface ofthe die 620 by any other method known to one skilled in the art. Inselected embodiments, the first shield layer 625 is formed from aluminum(Al), copper (Cu), nickel iron (NiFe), tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), or the like.As will be described in greater detail herein, these techniques forconstructing a conformal metal shield layer can be applied to the entirepackaged module 600 in addition to the individual die(s) 620.

A layer of conductive epoxy 630 is provided above the first shield layer625 of each semiconductor die 620 to form a ground path from the PCBlayer 610 to an exterior of the packaged module 600. The conductiveepoxy 630 preferably covers the entirety or a substantial entirety orsubstantial portion of a conductive upper surface of the die 620, withthe epoxy layer extending from the upper surface to the exterior of thepackaged module 600, e.g., at an exposed top surface. In certainembodiments, the epoxy layer can have a thickness in a range ofapproximately 0.1 millimeters to 1 millimeter. In alternate embodiments,the epoxy layer thickness can be less than 0.1 millimeters for improvedthermal and electrical conductivity.

The conductive epoxy 630 can be dispensed onto the semiconductor die 620(such as by a syringe), applied by screen printing, or applied by anyother method known to one skilled in the art. In embodiments of thepackaged module 600 with multiple dies 620 (such as the module of FIG.4B), different epoxies or different quantities of epoxy may be appliedto each die. In certain embodiments, where there are multiple dies 620(such as the module of FIG. 4C), the dies 620 may each be of a differentthickness, causing the upper surface of each die to be at a differentelevation relative to the PCB layer 610. The amount of the epoxy 630applied to each die 620 can be adjusted to fill in the difference inelevation and create a coplanar exterior surface of the packaged module600. In the preferred embodiment, the conductive epoxy 630 is a Henkel™brand conductive silicon adhesive meeting certain criteria of viscosity,adhesion, thermal conductance, and electrical conductance.

As will be discussed herein, the epoxy layer 630 forms a ground path formitigating EMI signals by grounding an exterior conformal shield 650 onthe exterior of the packaged module to a ground of the PCB layer via theelectrical connection of the semiconductor die 620 to the PCB layer. Inthe embodiment of FIG. 4B, the pair of semiconductor dies 620 a/b andepoxy layers 630 a/b form a plurality of ground paths between theconformal shield 650 and PCB ground.

Enveloping the semiconductor die(s) 620, a portion of mold compound 640is applied over the PCB layer 610 to fully cover the PCB layer andprotect the semiconductor dies 620. The mold compound 640 can be acontiguous layer that fills the volume of the packaged module, or can beapplied in multiple layers of one or more type of mold compound. In thepreferred embodiment, the mold compound is a Kyocera™ KE-G1250AH-M20-Lepoxy molding compound. In certain embodiments, the mold compound can bemade of plastic. As illustrated in FIGS. 5C and 5D, excess mold compoundand epoxy is removed to create a smooth exterior surface and expose theepoxy layer 630 on the semiconductor die(s) 620. The mold compound canbe removed mechanically, such as by grinding or laser ablation, or by achemical treatment.

As shown by FIG. 4C, the thickness of the mold compound layer(s) 630 a/bcan be varied to accommodate semiconductor dies 620 a/b of differentsizes and thicknesses to fully seal the dies within the packaged module600. As was discussed previously, the quantity of epoxy 630 applied toeach of the dies 620 a/b can be varied to make up the difference inthickness between the dies to create a flush exterior surface of thepackaged module 600. In certain embodiments, the mold compound 640 maybe molded to the base PCB layer 610 prior to applying epoxy to thedie(s), and the conductive epoxy 630 is subsequently used to fill acavity created above each die 620 by a mold.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 4A through 4C, a conductive metallayer is applied over the smooth exterior surfaces of the packagedmodule 600, which can include one or more side walls, to form aconformal shield 650 around the packaged module. In one embodiment, themetal layer is formed by sputtering metallic paint over the exteriorsurfaces of the mold compound 640 to form the conformal shield 650. Themetal layer comprising the exterior conformal shield 650 can be formedby any of the same materials or methods used to construct the firstconformal shield layer 625 over the die(s).

FIGS. 5A through 5F illustrate the steps of a method for constructingthe EMI-shielded packaged modules of FIGS. 4A through 4C.

In FIG. 5A, the die 620 is provided on the PCB layer 610 andelectrically connected to the PCB layer (such as, by bond wires orsoldered die pads). In FIG. 5B, the first conformal metal shield layer625 is applied (such as by masking and sputtering) over the die 620 toprovide the die with a conductive top surface 510 and a ground path tothe PCB layer 610. FIG. 5C illustrates forming a portion of conductiveepoxy 530 over the conductive top surface 510, whereas FIG. 5Dillustrates forming a portion of mold compound 540 over the PCB layer610. In certain embodiments, the mold compound 540 can be applied beforethe portion of epoxy 530 by using a mold or mask to prevent the moldcompound from blocking the conductive top surface 510 of the die.

Next, excess mold compound and conductive epoxy is removed to providethe module 600 with a substantially planar exterior surface. As shown inFIG. 5E, this can be performed by grinding away the portions of moldcompound 540 and conductive epoxy 530 above a predetermined elevation550 relative to the PCB layer 610 in order to expose the layer ofconductive epoxy 630 over the die 620. The layer of conductive epoxy andthe layer of mold compound remaining after grinding or ablation of themodule is indicated by 630 and 640, respectively.

In FIG. 5F, the exterior conformal shield 650 is applied as a layer ofmetal over the planar exterior surface(s) of the module 600. Theexterior conformal shield 650 can be applied by the same methods orformed of the same materials as the first conformal shield layer 625,although the two shield layers are not necessarily identical. (As willbe described herein, in certain embodiments, the composition of eithershield layer 625/650 can be selected to better mitigate EMI at specificfrequencies within the packaged module.) Techniques can includesputtering, spraying, printing, or otherwise applying the metal layer tothe top surface of the die 620 by any method known to one skilled in theart. In selected embodiments, the exterior conformal shield 650 isformed from aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), nickel iron (NiFe), tin (Sn),zinc (Zn), or the like.

In certain embodiments, the exterior metal layer is applied only overthe planar top surface of the packaged module 600 to provide a groundpath for the conformal shield 650. A plurality of bond wires extendingfrom the base PCB layer 610 to exterior conformal shield 650 along aperimeter of the packaged module 600 can form a bond wire cage aroundthe packaged module, advantageously acting an EMI shield for the die(s)620. The EMI shield can be formed during formation of the packagedmodule 600 by bonding the ends of bond wires to respective bond pads,which can be formed on the PCB layer 610. The mold compound 640 can thenbe used in any molding process as known in the art to cover thesemiconductor die(s) 620 a/b, the bond pads, and the base PCB layer 610and to encapsulate the wirebonds that form the bond wire cage.

By utilizing bond wires to form an EMI shield, the shield can moreeasily accommodate variations in package size and has increasedscalability compared to a conventional prefabricated metal shield.Moreover, since wirebonds can be significantly narrower than the wallsof the conventional prefabricated metal shield, the invention's EMIshield consumes less space in the packaged module compared to theconventional prefabricated metal shield.

The conformal shield 650 blocks or significantly attenuates RF signalsfrom entering or exiting the packaged module 600. FIG. 4A illustrateshow RF emissions 660 of the semiconductor die 620 can be coupled to acircuit ground by a plurality of ground paths 670 formed by theconductive epoxy layer 630 and conformal shield 650. The first conformalmetal shield layer 625 provides a first degree of attenuation, and theexterior conformal shield 650 couples attenuated RF emissions 660 toground. RF emissions external to the packaged module 600 can also becoupled to ground for EMI mitigation. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, the effectiveness of the EMI shielding varies withshield thickness, shield composition, signal strength and frequency, andother factors. Depending on the application (such as in the mobiledevice of FIG. 2 ), the materials and dimensions of the conformal shield650 may be selected specifically to block EMI in certain frequencybands, such as the n77, n78, and n79 NR bands.

Advantageously, the conformal shield 650 offers EMI shielding of thepackaged module 600 without requiring additional surface area on a PCBto mount a traditional EMI shield. Because the conformal shield 650 isintegral to the package and grounded to the semiconductor die(s) 620 viathe conductive epoxy 630, this form of EMI shielding is highly versatileand can be implemented in many applications without requiring a PCBdesigner to route additional ground paths.

Referring again to FIGS. 4B and 4C, cross-sectional views of a packagedmodule 600 with two adjacent semiconductor dies 620 a/b are shown. Thesemiconductor dies 620 a and 620 b can be dies of different types (e.g.,an RF front end system and a control processor) or different sizes, suchas in the embodiment of FIG. 4C.

As shown, each packaged module 600 comprises an array of ball-shapedcontacts 740, which form a ball grid array (BGA). In this manner, thepackaged module is a BGA surface-mount device (SMD) package for mountingto a board 710, which can be a PCB-based board configured to accommodatemore than one packaged module and other appropriate components. Forexample, the board 710 can be a mobile phone board, or a board for atablet, laptop, or other type of portable electronic device. The BGApackage provides a convenient and scalable method of connecting the basePCB of the packaged module 600 to a substrate PCB containing additionalcircuit elements.

On a surface of the board 710, a first plurality of conductive pads 720are provided, some or all of which can be connected to various traceswithin a PCB substrate of the board 710. On an obverse side of the basePCB 610 from the dies 620 a/b, a second plurality of conductive pads 730are provided, each of the second plurality of pads 730 corresponding toone of the pads of the first plurality 720 on the board 710. The pads ofthe first and second pluralities 720/730 can be arranged substantiallyin a grid pattern.

Within the PCB layer 610, a plurality of bond wires 750 electricallyconnect each pad of the second plurality 730 to one of the semiconductordies 620 a/b. Each of the pads may have a bond wire connection to nomore than one semiconductor die 620 a/b, but each of the dies 620 a/bcan have hundreds or thousands of connections to the various pads 730.In some embodiments, certain pads 760 of the first and secondpluralities 720/730 remain electrically disconnected from bond wires orPCB traces, particularly when the die(s) of a specific packaged module600 do not require as many electrical connections as are provided by theplurality of pads, or if routing bond wires 750 within a certain regionof the PCB layer 610 is not practical. Each electrically disconnectedpad 760 can still be connected to a corresponding pad via a contact 740to provide a more secure mechanical connection between the packagedmodule 600 and the board 710. As will be described herein, soldering ofthe first and second pluralities of pads 720 can be performed in asingle manufacturing step, and does not require additional resources tofacilitate a connection between the electrically disconnected pads 760.

The base PCB 610 and the board 710 are coupled electrically andmechanically by the plurality of solder balls 740 applied between thefirst and second plurality of pads 720/730. Solder is first applied toeither of the plurality of pads 720/730, such as by running moltensolder over the pads, and then cooled to solidify into the solder balls740. The BGA package 700 is brought into close proximity with thesubstrate PCB layer 710, and the first and second pluralities of pads720/730 are aligned and the solder balls 740 re-flowed to adhere thesolder between the pads on either side. In certain embodiments, thesolder may be applied only once the BGA package 700 and substrate PCBlayer 710 are already aligned. Those skilled in the art will envisionvarious other methods and applications related to the BGA package 700disclosed herein.

In the various examples herein, a conformal shield 650 and its contactwith an exposed metal surface of an SMD (e.g., 620 a/b) via conductiveepoxy 630 are described in the context of formation of an electricalconduction path to facilitate the grounding path between the conformalshield metal layer and a ground plane of the packaging substrate.However, it will be understood that one or more features associated withsuch a conformal shield 650 in electrical contact with an upper surfaceof the SMD can also be utilized to provide other conduction pathsbetween the SMD and the conformal shield 650. For example, heat can betransferred from the SMD through its upper surface and to the shieldthrough conduction. In such an application, the conformal shield 650,conductive epoxy 630, and the upper surface of the SMD 620 can beconfigured to provide good thermal conduction properties, and may or maynot include electrical conduction properties.

For the purpose of description herein, a surface mount device (SMD) caninclude any device mountable on a substrate such as a packagingsubstrate utilizing various surface mount technologies. In someembodiments, an SMD can include any device mountable on a packagingsubstrate and having an upper surface. In some embodiments, such anupper surface can be larger than an upper portion of a curved bond wire.An SMD can include active and/or passive components; and such componentscan be configured for RF and/or other applications. Such an SMD is alsoreferred to herein as, for example, an RF component, a component, afilter, a CSSD, a shielding-component, a functional component, and thelike. It will be understood that such terms can be used interchangeablyin their respective contexts.

In some implementations, a device and/or a circuit having one or morefeatures described herein can be included in an RF device such as awireless device. Such a device and/or a circuit can be implementeddirectly in the wireless device, in a modular form as described herein,or in some combination thereof. In some embodiments, such a wirelessdevice can include, for example, a cellular phone, a smart-phone, ahand-held wireless device with or without phone functionality, awireless tablet, etc.

Additional Embodiments of a Packaged Module

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a packaged module600. FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of the packagedmodule 600 of FIG. 6A taken along the lines 6B-6B.

The packaged module 600 includes radio frequency components 901, asemiconductor die 620, surface mount devices 903, an epoxy layer 630,wirebonds 908, a package substrate 610, an encapsulation structure (suchas the layer of mold compound 640), a first conformal shield layer 625,and an exterior conformal shield 650. The package substrate 610 includespads 906 formed from conductors disposed therein. Additionally, thesemiconductor die 902 includes pins or pads 904, and the wirebonds 908have been used to connect the pads 904 of the die 620 to the pads 906 ofthe package substrate 610.

The semiconductor die 620 includes a power amplifier 945, which can beimplemented in accordance with one or more features disclosed herein.

The package substrate 610 can be configured to receive a plurality ofcomponents such as radio frequency components 901, the semiconductor die620, and the surface mount devices 903, which can include, for example,surface mount capacitors and/or inductors. In one implementation, theradio frequency components 901 include integrated passive devices(IPDs).

As shown in FIG. 6B, the packaged module 600 can include a plurality ofcontact pads 932 disposed on a side of the packaged module 600 oppositethe side used to mount the semiconductor die 620. Configuring thepackaged module 600 in this manner can aid in connecting the packagedmodule 600 to a circuit board, such as a phone board of a mobile device.The example contact pads 932 can be configured to provide radiofrequency signals, bias signals, and/or power (for example, a powersupply voltage and ground) to the semiconductor die 620 and/or othercomponents. As shown in FIG. 6B, the electrical connections between thecontact pads 932 and the semiconductor die 620 can be facilitated byconnections 933 through the package substrate 610. The connections 933can represent electrical paths formed through the package substrate 610,such as connections associated with vias and conductors of a multilayerlaminated package substrate. In some embodiments, other types of contactpads can be used. For example, an array of balls can be arranged to forma ball-grid array such as those of FIGS. 4B, 4C, and 7A.

In some embodiments, the packaged module 600 can also include one ormore packaging structures to, for example, provide protection and/orfacilitate handling. Such a packaging structure can include overmold orencapsulation structure 640 formed over the package substrate 610 andthe components and die(s) disposed thereon.

It will be understood that although the packaged module 600 is describedin the context of electrical connections based on wirebonds, one or morefeatures of the present disclosure can also be implemented in otherpackaging configurations, including, for example, flip chipconfigurations.

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of a cross-section of another embodimentof a packaged module 600. The packaged module 600 includes a laminatedpackage substrate 951, a flip-chip die 952, a first conformal shieldlayer 625, a conductive epoxy layer 630, a layer of mold compound 640acting as an encapsulation structure, and an exterior conformal shield650.

The laminated package substrate 951 includes a cavity-based antenna 958associated with an air cavity 960, a first conductor 961, a secondconductor 962. The laminated package substrate 951 further includes aplanar antenna 959.

In certain implementations herein, a packaged module includes one ormore integrated antennas. For example, the packaged module 600 of FIG.7A includes the cavity-based antenna 958 and the planar antenna 959. Byincluding antennas facing in multiple directions (including, but notlimited to, directions that are substantially perpendicular to oneanother), a range of available angles for communications can beincreased. Although one example of a packaged module with integratedantennas is shown, the teachings herein are applicable to modulesimplemented in a wide variety of ways.

FIG. 7B is a perspective view of another embodiment of a packaged module600. The module 600 includes a laminated substrate 1010 and asemiconductor die 1012 encapsulated underneath a layer of conductiveepoxy 630 and a layer of mold compound 640. In certain embodiments, thesemiconductor die 1012 can be of the same type as the flip-chip die 952of FIG. 7A. The semiconductor die 1012 includes at least one of a frontend system 945 or a transceiver 946. (For ease of illustration, a firstconformal shield layer 625 is not shown above the die 1012 in FIG. 7B)For example, the front end system 945 can include signal conditioningcircuits, such as controllable amplifiers and/or controllable phaseshifters, to aid in providing beamforming.

In the illustrated embodiment, cavity-based antennas 1011 a-1011 p havebeen formed on an edge 1022 of the laminated substrate 1010. In thisexample, sixteen cavity-based antennas have been provided in afour-by-four (4 x 4) array. However, more or fewer antennas can beincluded and/or antennas can be arrayed in other patterns.

In another embodiment, the laminated substrate 1010 further includeanother antenna array (for example, a patch antenna array) formed on asecond major surface of the laminated substrate 1010 opposite the firstmajor surface 1021. Implementing the module 600 aids in increasing arange of angles over which the module 600 can communicate.

The module 600 illustrates another embodiment of a module including anarray of antennas that are controllable to provide beamforming.Implementing an array of antennas on a side of module aids incommunicating at certain angles and/or directions that may otherwise beunavailable due to environmental blockage. Although an example withcavity-based antennas is shown, the teachings herein are applicable toimplementations using other types of antennas.

Applications

Devices employing the above-described schemes can be implemented intovarious electronic devices and multimedia communication systems.Examples of the electronic devices can include, but are not limited to,consumer electronic products, parts of the consumer electronic products,electronic test equipment, communication infrastructure applications,etc. Further, the electronic device can include unfinished products,including those for communication, industrial, medical, and automotiveapplications.

CONCLUSION

The foregoing description may refer to elements or features as being“connected” or “coupled” together. As used herein, unless expresslystated otherwise, “connected” means that one element/feature is directlyor indirectly connected to another element/feature, and not necessarilymechanically. Likewise, unless expressly stated otherwise, “coupled”means that one element/feature is directly or indirectly coupled toanother element/feature, and not necessarily mechanically. Thus,although the various schematics shown in the figures depict examplearrangements of elements and components, additional interveningelements, devices, features, or components may be present in an actualembodiment (assuming that the functionality of the depicted circuits isnot adversely affected).

Features, materials, characteristics, or groups described in conjunctionwith a particular aspect, embodiment, or example are to be understood tobe applicable to any other aspect, embodiment or example describedherein unless incompatible therewith. All of the features disclosed inthis specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract anddrawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process sodisclosed, can be combined in any combination, except combinations whereat least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. Theprotection is not restricted to the details of any foregoingembodiments. The protection extends to any novel one, or any novelcombination, of the features disclosed in this specification (includingany accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, orany novel combination, of the steps of any method or process sodisclosed.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of protection. Indeed, the novel methods and systems describedherein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the methods andsystems described herein may be made. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that in some embodiments, the actual steps taken in theprocesses illustrated and/or disclosed may differ from those shown inthe figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps describedabove may be removed, others may be added. For example, the actual stepsand/or order of steps taken in the disclosed processes may differ fromthose shown in the figure. Depending on the embodiment, certain of thesteps described above may be removed, others may be added. Furthermore,the features and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed abovemay be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all ofwhich fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “could”,“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orstates. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment. The terms “comprising,”“including,” “having,” and the like are synonymous and are usedinclusively, in an open-ended fashion, and do not exclude additionalelements, features, acts, operations, and so forth. Also, the term “or”is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so thatwhen used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term “or”means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. Further, the term“each,” as used herein, in addition to having its ordinary meaning, canmean any subset of a set of elements to which the term “each” isapplied. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and wordsof similar import, when used in this application, refer to thisapplication as a whole and not to any particular portions of thisapplication.

Conjunctive language, such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y and Z,”unless specifically stated otherwise, is to be understood with thecontext as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may beeither X, Y, or Z, or a combination thereof. Thus, such conjunctivelanguage is not generally intended to imply that certain embodimentsrequire at least one of X, at least one of Y and at least one of Z toeach be present.

Language of degree used herein, such as the terms “approximately,”“about,” “generally,” and “substantially” as used herein represent avalue, amount, or characteristic close to the stated value, amount, orcharacteristic that still performs a desired function or achieves adesired result. For example, the terms “approximately”, “about”,“generally,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount that is withinless than 10% of, within less than 5% of, within less than 1% of, withinless than 0.1% of, and within less than 0.01% of the stated amount. Asanother example, in certain embodiments, the terms “generally parallel”and “substantially parallel” refer to a value, amount, or characteristicthat departs from exactly parallel by less than or equal to 15 degrees,10 degrees, 5 degrees, 3 degrees, 1 degree, or 0.1 degree.

Unless otherwise explicitly stated, articles such as “a” or “an” shouldgenerally be interpreted to include one or more described items.Accordingly, phrases such as “a device configured to” are intended toinclude one or more recited devices. Such one or more recited devicescan also be collectively configured to carry out the stated recitations.

Although the present disclosure includes certain embodiments, examplesand applications, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatthe present disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosedembodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses and obviousmodifications and equivalents thereof, including embodiments which donot provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein.Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is not intended to belimited by the specific disclosures of preferred embodiments herein, andmay be defined by claims as presented herein or as presented in thefuture.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shielded integrated circuit package comprising:a printed circuit board; a semiconductor die mounted to the printedcircuit board and having a conductive top surface; a conductive adhesivelayer provided on the conductive top surface; an over-mold above theprinted circuit board, the over-mold encasing a periphery of thesemiconductor die while exposing at least a portion of a top surface ofthe conductive adhesive layer; and a conformal metal shield over theover-mold and over the conductive adhesive layer, the conductiveadhesive layer and the conformal metal shield forming a path from thesemiconductor die to a ground reference.
 2. The shielded integratedcircuit package of claim 1 wherein the semiconductor die includes asurface-mount device.
 3. The shielded integrated circuit package ofclaim 1 wherein the semiconductor die includes one or more of a surfaceacoustic wave filter, bulk acoustic wave filter, power amplifier, or alow-noise amplifier.
 4. The shielded integrated circuit package of claim1 wherein the conductive adhesive layer includes a conductive epoxy. 5.The shielded integrated circuit package of claim 1 wherein the conformalmetal shield includes aluminum, copper, nickel, iron, tin, or zinc. 6.The shielded integrated circuit package of claim 1 wherein the conformalmetal shield is configured to substantially attenuate radio frequencysignals causing electromagnetic interference in the n77, n78, or n79 NewRadio frequency bands.
 7. The shielded integrated circuit package ofclaim 1 wherein the shielded integrated circuit package is configured asa ball grid array package.
 8. The shielded integrated circuit package ofclaim 1 further comprising a plurality of bond wires forming a wire cagearound the shielded integrated circuit package.
 9. A radio frequencypackaged module comprising: a printed circuit board; first and secondsemiconductor dies mounted to the printed circuit board; a firstconductive adhesive layer provided on a conductive top surface of thefirst semiconductor die and a second conductive adhesive layer providedon a conductive top surface of the second semiconductor die; anover-mold above the printed circuit board, the over-mold encasing aperiphery of each of the first and second semiconductor dies whileexposing at least a portion of a top surface of both the first andsecond conductive adhesive layers; and a conformal metal shield over theover-mold and over the first and second conductive adhesive layers, thefirst conductive adhesive layer and the conformal metal shield forming apath from the first semiconductor die to a ground reference and thesecond conductive adhesive layer and the conformal metal shield forminga path from the second semiconductor die to the ground reference. 10.The radio frequency packaged module of claim 9 wherein each of thesemiconductor dies include one or more of a surface acoustic wavefilter, bulk acoustic wave filter, power amplifier, or a low-noiseamplifier.
 11. The radio frequency packaged module of claim 9 whereinthe radio frequency packaged module is a front-end module.
 12. The radiofrequency packaged module of claim 9 wherein the conformal metal shieldis configured to substantially attenuate radio frequency signals causingelectromagnetic interference in the n77, n78, or n79 New Radio frequencybands.
 13. The radio frequency packaged module of claim 9 wherein theradio frequency packaged module is configured as a ball grid arraypackage.
 14. The radio frequency packaged module of claim 9 furthercomprising a plurality of bond wires forming a wire cage around theradio frequency packaged module.
 15. A mobile device comprising theradio frequency packaged module of claim 9, the mobile device furthercomprising an antenna coupled to the radio frequency packaged module.16. The mobile device of claim 15 further comprising a plurality of bondwires extending between the printed circuit board and conformal metalshield to form a wire cage around the radio frequency packaged module.17. The mobile device of claim 16 wherein the wire cage is configured toattenuate radio frequency noise emissions of the first and secondsemiconductor dies by coupling the noise emissions to the groundreference.
 18. The mobile device of claim 16 wherein the plurality ofbond wires form a perimeter boundary around the first and secondsemiconductor dies.
 19. The mobile device of claim 16 wherein the firstand second conductive adhesive layers each form an electrical connectionbetween one or more of the bond wires and the ground reference.
 20. Amobile device comprising: a shielded integrated circuit packageincluding a printed circuit board, a semiconductor die mounted to theprinted circuit board and having a conductive top surface, a conductiveadhesive layer provided on the conductive top surface, an over-moldabove the printed circuit board, the over-mold encasing a periphery ofthe semiconductor die while exposing at least a portion of a top surfaceof the conductive adhesive layer, and a conformal metal shield over theover-mold and over the conductive adhesive layer, the conductiveadhesive layer and the conformal metal shield forming a path from thesemiconductor die to a ground reference; and an antenna coupled to theshielded integrated circuit package.